Alison Sweeney Biography

Alison Ann Sweeney (born September 19, 1976) is an American dramatic actress, reality show host, director and author. Sweeney is best known for her portrayal of Samantha "Sami" Brady on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, a role she has played under contract with the show since January 6, 1993. In this role, she has earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination, four Soap Opera Digest Awards and a Fan Voted Daytime Emmy Award. In 2007, she became the host of The Biggest Loser, and left the series at the end of the sixteenth season in 2015.

Personal life

Sweeney has two brothers. She studied Economics at UCLA but left due to her commitment to Days of Our Lives. On July 8, 2000, Sweeney married David Sanov, after dating for nearly three years. The couple has two children: a son born on February 25, 2005, and a daughter born on January 12, 2009. The family currently lives in Los Angeles.

Career

Her television debut was at age five in a Kodak advertisement. A few years later, she was in an episode of Tales from the Darkside. The episode, titled I Can't Help Saying Goodbye, first aired on October 5, 1986. She played the part of a young girl named Karen who could sense when others were going to die shortly before their deaths. In 1988, she appeared on the short-lived ABC sitcom Family Man, and the following year, was cast as Christy McCray on Brand New Life, a miniseries from future X-Files creator Chris Carter that aired within NBC's Magical World of Disney in October 1989. The miniseries, which co-starred Barbara Eden as Sweeney's mother and Don Murray as her new stepfather, was considered for pick-up as a stand-alone series beyond its Disney tryout, but the regular series never materialized.

On January 6, 1993, Sweeney first appeared in the role of Samantha "Sami" Brady in the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives"?a show of which she was a fan.

In the 1990s, Sweeney struggled with her weight. She eventually was a US dress size 12 (UK dress size 16), not obese by medical standards, but still larger than her television peers. She documented all the tabloid talk and personal anguish in her 2004 memoir, All The Days of My Life (So Far).

In 2002, she appeared on a celebrity episode of the NBC reality game show Fear Factor. She has appeared in other NBC shows such as Friends, where she played an actress on Days of Our Lives, and Las Vegas. In 2007, she joined the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon as a co-host for the live television broadcast. She returned to her co-hosting duties for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 telethons.

In 2007, Sweeney took over hosting duties on The Biggest Loser, replacing Caroline Rhea since the fourth season. She was surprised but happy to be offered the role, where she is able to cheer on contestants and share their victories.

Sweeney has written three books: "The Star Attraction" (released in May 2013), "Scared Scriptless: A Novel" (released in June 2014) and "Opportunity Knocks" (released in April 2016).

In July 2013, Sweeney appeared in Second Chances, a Hallmark Original Movie, alongside Days co-star Greg Vaughan. The movie was filmed before Sweeney and Vaughn became siblings on Days of Our Lives.

On January 20, 2014, Sweeney announced on The Ellen Degeneres Show that after 21 years of being on the air on Days of Our Lives, she will be leaving the show, to focus on spending more time with her family, as well as more time to work on her other show, The Biggest Loser. She stated in the interview that she would be on the show throughout 2014, and that she would like her character on the show to have a happy ending with a Breaking Bad twist.

On July 9, 2014, it was announced that Sweeney would be joining General Hospital behind the scenes as a director, starting later that month On April 26, 2015, Sweeney announced that she will be returning to Days of Our Lives to be part of the show's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Since 2015, Sweeney has appeared in the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film series Murder, She Baked, based on Joanne Fluke's books.

On August 25, 2015, it was announced that Sweeney would not be returning to The Biggest Loser.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	St. Elsewhere	Chrissy	Episode: "Santa Claus Is Dead"
	Webster	Beth	Episode: "The Uh-Oh Feeling"
	Tales from the Darkside	Karen	Episode: "I Can't Help Saying Goodbye"
1987-2015	Days of Our Lives	Adrienne Johnson Samantha Brady Colleen Brady	Role: 1987 - Flashbacks Role: January 1993 - October 2014; October 2015 - November 2015 Role: July 2007 - September 2007; February 2008 - Flashbacks
1988	Family Man	Rosie
2001	Friends	Jessica Ashley	Episode: "The One With Joey's Award"
2002	Fear Factor	Herself	Episode: "Celebrity Fear Factor"
2004	American Dreams	Miss USA	Episode: "Old Enough to Fight"
	Las Vegas	Caroline Pzarchik	Episode: "Nevada State"
2007-2015	The Biggest Loser	Herself	Host
2010	Mercy	Becky Sorensen	Episode: I Did Kill You, Didn't I?

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	The Price of Life	Young Alice
1989-1990	Brand New Life	Christy McCary
1991	The End of Innocence	Stephanie	12-15 years old
2013	Second Chances	Jenny McLean	Hallmark Original Movie
2015	Murder, She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder	Hannah Swensen	Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
	Love on the Air	Sonia	Hallmark Original Movie
	Murder She Baked: A Plum Pudding Murder Mystery	Hannah Swensen	Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
	Murder, She Baked: A Peach Cobbler Mystery		Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
2016	Murder, She Baked: A Deadly Recipe		Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
	The Irresistible Blueberry Farm	Ellen	Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
2017	Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts	Hannah Swensen	Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result
1994	Young Artist Award	Best Youth Actress in a Soap Opera	Days of Our Lives
1996	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Villainess	Days of Our Lives
1997	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Daytime Drama: Young Actress	Days of Our Lives
1998	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Villainess	Days of Our Lives
1999	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Villainess	Days of Our Lives
2000	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Younger Lead Actress	Days of Our Lives
2001	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Younger Lead Actress	Days of Our Lives
2002	Daytime Emmy Award	America's Favorite Villain "? Special Fan Award	Days of Our Lives
2003	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress	Days of Our Lives
2005	Soap Opera Digest Award	Favorite New Couple	Days of Our Lives
2005	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress	Days of Our Lives
2015	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives